Commonly Overlooked Items when Launching an Online Business

Entrepreneurs, especially in the digital age, see fewer barriers than traditional brick and mortar institutions. Because of this, they are making costly mistakes.

Here are a few of them …

Responsive, Flexible Website Design

It’s almost 2014 and businesses still don’t seem to be on board with responsive, flexible websites. They find some nice looking template, slap it together, add the content, and call it a day. What a lot of them aren’t considering is the widespread adoption of mobile-ready devices.

Millions of consumers now own smartphones and tablets which mean:

· The site should be able to conform to the screen sizes

· The site should be able to accommodate mobile payments and security

A new online business hitting the market needs to set a budget for their web development to incorporate these needs else they will miss out on many opportunities. The cost for this development has been at an all-time low so there’s no reason to skip new conventions in design.

Personal and Business Security

Will you operate your business off your computer? What about the network? What online services are you going to use? Can you trust them?

Software to protect from a cyber attack is more important than ever. You’re no longer simply operating with a website but a slew of gadgets, devices, and services, all broadcasting your sensitive data and all of which provide an entry point for would-be attackers. More than ever, attackers are using a variety of threats such as social engineering, phishing, cloud security flaws, and public data through free wi-fi.

Likewise, you need to consider the physical security flaws in the business:

· What if someone suddenly stole your computer?

· What if the hard drive failed without making a backup?

· What if your office burned down?

It’s easy to forget about personal and business security when you’re trying to get the ball rolling, but don’t leave it out or you could face a costly loss.

An Actual Product

This may come as a no-brainer but many fresh online entrepreneurs take a route that “they’ll develop something once they know what it is” and that “for now they’re going to start building a community”.

This type of behavior is often seen with bloggers. They feel that since they have a blog they are technically “in business” but it’s quite the contrary.

Pitfalls will arise:

· You’re losing precious opportunities to test and improve a product

· You could burn out and never fully launch

· You could have chosen the wrong market

Big tech companies can get away with launching without monetization methods because they’re lucky (and skilled) enough to have venture capital backing their business. You, on the other hand, probably won’t.

Don’t make the mistake of launching too soon. Put in the time to create a product from the get-go so every action you take drives people to the product rather than building a vapid platform that may never have something to offer.

A Plan for Growth

Launching a small online business is about as easy it gets these days. If you have a website and product, you’re pretty much good to go. However, the real trouble arises when you find yourself restricted in growth because you hadn’t planned for it.

Things like:

· How will you manage a larger inventory and logistics when you experience sales spikes?

· What will you do about taxes now that you’re in a higher income bracket?

· Will you begin hiring employees and how will you manage them?

Entrepreneurs, especially the online type, are very passionate and that passion can put blinders on their actions. You’ll feel compelled to get things up and running as soon as possible. Failing to put a plan in motion for your growth will set limits on the business, so have one in mind before you start.

Have you made one of these mistakes? What are your plans for correcting them?

Founder and chief editor of makemoneyinlife.com
Blogger, Tech Geek, and SEO person.
I started this blog because I've been making money online since 2005,and now want to help everyone else start their online business and make money online from home.
You can contact me at makemoneyinlife@gmail.com or contact@makemoneyinlife.com

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